Shoot Some Crocodiles (With Your Camera) in the Florida Everglades

Excerpt from Single White Female Backpacker part of the Teresa the Traveler series of books. The Everglades are a subtropical wetland starting in Orlando, Florida. The Kissimee River discharges into the vast yet shallow Lake Okeechobee forming a slow moving river 60 miles wide and over 100 miles long flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay. Named for the sawgrass blades that seem to go on forever, the Everglades was inhabited 15,000 years ago by the Calusa and Tequesta tribes whose population declined in the 16th century after the Spanish arrived. After the Seminole Wars of the 19th century, the Seminoles were forced by the US military to live in the Everglades.

The Seminole Wars, also known as the Florida Wars were three conflicts that took place in the time frame of 1817 to 1858 between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as the Seminoles, and the United States Army. Many of the Seminoles were bribed to move west while others were forced to leave or killed in the wars. By the end of the third war there were only around 100 Seminoles left in Florida.

Today the Seminole remain a part of the Everglades where they serve as a tourist attraction wrestling alligators and running souvenir stands. They also run casinos to support the six remaining Seminole reservations in Florida. The Everglade’s fragile ecosystem was first threatened by drainage in 1882, in an effort to develop the land. Around 1,400 miles of canals, levees and water control devices were constructed to divert the water to the cities and portions were transformed into farmland to grow primarily sugarcane. With approximately 50 percent of the original Everglades turned into farmland and urban areas, it wasn’t until the 1970’s when international attention turned to the environmental crisis of the area and it was designated as one of only three wetland areas of global importance. Restoration efforts were launched in the 1980’s to preserve the Everglades. There are six different ecosystems that make up the Everglades including: sawgrass marshes and sloughs, tropical hardwood hammock, pineland, cypress, mangrove and coastal prairie and Florida Bay. The sawgrass marshes are the primary feature of the Everglades. This is where the crocodiles nest and where aquatic animals such as turtles, alligators, snakes and fish thrive, as well as a number of bird species.

Small islands of trees called tropical hardwood hammocks grow on land raised between 1-3 feet above the sloughs and prairies. While they are difficult for humans to penetrate, they make ideal habitats for small mammals, reptiles and amphibians. The driest land in the Everglades, located at the highest altitude, is called pineland. This area relies on fire for its survival as it burns off the competing vegetation on the forest floor and opens pine cones to germinate seeds. A period without significant fire can transform pineland into a hardwood hammock as the larger trees overtake the slash pines. Cypress swamps are also found throughout the Everglades with the largest being the Big Cypress Swamp located west of the sawgrass prairies. Mangrove trees, which grow in oxygen-poor soil, are tolerant of salt and can survive drastic changes in water levels, protect the coastline during severe storms by absorbing the energy of waves and storm surges. Most are located in the transitional zone where fresh water meets salt water. In fact, the Everglades have the most extensive system of mangroves in the world. Since there is no boarder between the coastal marshes and Florida Bay, it is considered to be part of the Everglade watershed. There are approximately 100 keys (islands) many of which are mangrove forests. The fresh water flowing into the bay creates the perfect conditions for vast beds of turtle grass and algae formations to thrive. These are the foundations for animal life in the bay, which is home to sea turtles and manatees. With the environment being threatened, a number of initiatives have been put in place to restore the wetlands, which act as filters for pollution, and improve the quality of water. The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, first authorized by congress in 1948, provides a framework for restoring and preserving the water resources of central and southern Florida. It proposed over 60 construction projects over 30 years designed to better store and manage the water. Despite support from President Clinton in 2000, the plan has received little in the way of federal funds as most of the money has already been spent in the war with Iraq. The State of Florida, however, reports having spent over 2 billion on various projects including over 36,000 acres of storm water treatment areas constructed to filter 2,500 short tons of phosphorus from the waters of the Everglades. In 2008, the State of Florida also agreed to buy U.S. Sugar and all of its manufacturing and production facilities in the Everglades with plans to dismantle the plant but whether or not this will happen remain to be seen. My short but sweet Everglades tour was a success with a total of 10 crocodile sightings, two turtle sightings and countless bird sightings. I hope the powers that be protect this precious jewel for generations to come.

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